The Texas Planet Massacre

The state of Texas, which spews more greenhouse gases than Canada or the U.K., is set to reduce its emissions. And by “reduce” we mean “massively increase.” Texas may soon approve construction of 16 new coal-fired power plants. And not the fancy new “clean coal” kind, either — the old-school dirty kind, which would add an estimated 117 million tons of carbon dioxide a year to the atmosphere, more than the individual emissions of 33 states and 177 countries. Yikes. Texas has no formal global-warming strategy or plans to reduce CO2, having decided to leave global-warming mitigation in the capable hands of the feds. Cuts in greenhouse gases, says Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) press secretary, could “dramatically harm our economy.” The mayors of Dallas, Houston, and 15 other cities, representing nearly one-third of the state’s population, disagree. They plan to mess with Texas, vowing to take legal action to fight the plants.